


Woman of action

by tdk4787



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 22:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20281234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tdk4787/pseuds/tdk4787
Summary: Aloy thinks about the men in her life and what she wants. And then takes action.





	Woman of action

**Author's Note:**

> This story and Aloy's thoughts are just my headcanon. No disrespect meant for fans of other pairings.

Aloy was relaxing in front of a campfire, winding down and getting ready to sleep. Her thoughts turned to the men she had met. The ones closer to her age, that she had felt a connection with. This had started to happen more and more recently. Could it mean something? Maybe it meant that she sometimes needed company.

No, there was probably more to it, since she didn’t really think about women. At least, not in the same way. Or as much.

But, it was not easy to admit that she had social needs, even to herself. She had grown proud of being independent. And because she had been an outcast most of her life, she was hesitant of belonging to any tribe. It felt easier to go her own way, following only the rules that made sense to her. Also, because she was not part of any community, their ways tended to confuse her. The unspoken rules, hierarchies, and rules of conduct were hard for her to understand.

She might also be a little bitter of the way she was treated by the Nora tribe.

But this was not what she wanted to dwell on at the moment. Whatever the reasons were, men seemed to be on her mind these days. At least, when there was nothing more immediate to attend to.

Her first encounter with a boy had been Teb. He was the first Nora that hadn’t cared about her outsider status. And he had grown into a sweet man, and Aloy thought of him fondly. But there wasn’t really any more to it. Certainly, no romantic feelings. And Aloy doubted that Teb had any romantic attraction to her either.

Varl was an attractive man. He was also a good and dependable man. But, if she was honest with herself, she did not want to seek out his company. Aloy had trouble imagining what they would do together. He seemed very bound to his duties and was committed to the Nora. He was a great asset to the tribe and Aloy was glad that he was there, protecting the tribe. But she didn’t feel that she wanted or needed anything from him.

Then there was Nil. He could be attractive, if his personality wasn’t what it was. Aloy found his enthusiasm for killing people upsetting. Which is why she found it very hard to be around him, or work with him. So, he was definitely out of the question.

Avad was another good man. But he was born and raised as nobility, and Aloy didn’t see them having much in common. He didn’t have much understanding for practicalities and common people. Or anything outside of ruling the Sundom. And Aloy had no desire to get involved with the ruling class. Besides, he seemed to be still mourning Ersa.

As soon as Ersas name came into her mind, so did the memories of finding her. They were distressing memories. Her and Erend had found her, only to have her die on Erends arms. It was awful to think what she must have gone through. And Aloy didn’t want to think about it any more than that. Thankfully, Ersa was now at peace.

And from that, her thoughts went to Erend. She had to admit that she was missing him. He was one of the few people she could see herself spending time with. Especially now that he had gotten his life together. Aloy seemed to have more and more things to tell him, or talk with him about.

Talking wasn’t the only thing she wanted to do with him though. Lately, when she thought about him, she started having odd urges. Like wishing she could touch his beard and hair. Or wanting to touch his hands, or his hands touching her.

And she had strange thoughts about him too. Like, is the skin on his hands rough? (Probably, given the work he does.) What would he look like without his shirt on? Does he have muscles? Or chest hair? (If he does have chest hair, she wanted to run her fingers through it.)

Her imagination had started to run wild when it came to Erend. And Aloy decided that it was time to do something about it. To see if Erend felt the same way.

Even though she was now sure of what she wanted, she felt hesitant and even a little bit scared. She was not used to feeling unsure of how to proceed. Usually, when something needed to be done, she would do it. No hesitation. But social customs were not something she was comfortable with.

’How am I supposed to go about this?’ Rost hadn’t prepared her for anything like this. So, she had to find a way by herself.

’It’s best if I’m honest. I’ll say …um. What am I going to say? “Are you interested…in me?” Or maybe I should say I’m interested in him. Or maybe I’ll go straight to asking if I could kiss him.’

She tried to predict how he would react to this. He didn’t seem like he was very interested in proper behavior, or saying things “the right” way. So, he probably wasn’t going to be upset if she was blunt.

There was also the fear of rejection. Aloy tried to convince herself that it was fine if he rejected her. That she would quickly get over it. But on some level, she knew that it would hurt.

But he had shown interest in her. Right? At least that’s how she interpreted his behavior. What was it that he told her? That he thought he was impressing a pretty girl. And he was always ready to hear her suggestions and ideas. He was also quick to work with her and trust her. All this did not guarantee that he was still interested. He could have moved on; a lot of time had passed since they had met.

There was also the fact that she would not completely settle down anywhere. She needed to have her freedom. Could Erend accept that?

’Well. I have to try. I have to see where this goes. But I better stop overthinking this.’

‘I’ll be in Meridian tomorrow. So, I’ll find him when I get there.’

’It’s going to be fine… I’m sure it will be fine.’ That was her last thought before she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day Aloy walked into Meridian. She barely had time to wonder where she would find Erend, when a familiar voice called her name. She turned toward it. Erend was walking to her with a grin on his face. As soon as Aloy saw him, she felt a strange flutter in her stomach. She also felt both excited and anxious. This was the first time anything like it had happened to her, but it was a very nice feeling.

“Hey, Aloy! I was hoping you’d have a minute for me.”

“Sure. I have a minute for you. Did you have something on your mind?”

“Ah, well no. Not really. I just…hoped you might take a break with me.” Hearing that felt nice. Someone wanted to spend time with her. And nothing special was expected from her.

“Sure. That sounds nice.”

“Anyway. What brings you to Meridian? Must be something important. Something to do with saving the world, right? That’s what it usually is with you.” Erend looked amused while he waited for her answer.

Aloy felt a little unsettled by his words. The thought that all she did was important, serious business was worrying. But, in all honesty, that seemed to be her life now. At least her reason for coming here this time wasn’t about something big. It wasn’t about saving the world, or saving lives. For once.

While she considered what to say to Erend, she started to feel very awkward.

“Actually, could we go somewhere more private?”

Her sudden seriousness changed Erends countenance to worry.

“Yes. Of course.”

He led her to a quiet corner nearby. When they stopped Aloy took a deep breath and braced herself.

“Look, I don’t really know how these things are supposed to go. But…I think you’ve started to mean a lot to me. And I’m not sure what…I mean, I’d like to do something about that.” That was not the most eloquent way to say it, but at least it was now out in the open.

Aloy felt embarrassed at how unsure and awkward she sounded. She glanced at Erend, who was completely silent. He looked a bit shocked, and surprised. But he soon seemed to get over it.

“Yeah. I’d like to do something about that too.” He stopped speaking and looked thoughtful for a moment.

“But maybe we should go slowly. We could start by spending some time together.”

“That sounds good.” It was probably for the best since this was all new to Aloy.

They looked at each other relieved. Aloy felt the tension leaving her. She hadn’t even noticed it, until now that the situation was resolved. And everything was fine. She had found the words and Erend seemed happy as well. ‘This wasn’t so bad. I don’t know why I worried so much.’

* * *

They did spend some time together, before Erend had to go back to his duties. And Aloy got to tell him what she had accomplished on her travels. This was the first time she had ever told anyone about her life and experiences. It made her realize she was not much of a storyteller, but it didn’t matter. It was nice just having someone to talk to.

Besides, Erend seemed always genuinely impressed by what she had done. Especially when she talked about exploring the Cut. After all, not many people can say they got to be a chieftain of a werak.

Erend admitted that he was shocked that she wanted a relationship with him. When he’d said that he was lucky to have a minute of her time. He had meant it. And hearing her stories had made him even more in awe of her. But he was not going to say no to her. And it did feel flattering to hear that she was interested in him. Bit scary too.

Aloy was worried that he was with her because he felt he couldn’t say no. Or that he felt he was beneath her in some way. But the more they spend time together, the more he seemed to forget that she was ‘the big hero’. He also seemed to genuinely enjoy her company, like she enjoyed his company.

* * *

They got together again later that day, when Erend was free. Their decision to go slow didn’t last very long. It turned out, that they could not keep their hands to themselves. Or to be precise, Aloy couldn’t keep her hands to herself first. She really was a woman of action. But Erend wasn’t complaining and followed her lead quickly.

And now, Aloy had a very good reason to visit Meridian more often.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not particularly satisfied with this story, but this is my first fanfic and I haven't written anything in a long time. So what can you expect. Have to start somewhere I guess.


End file.
